When we last checked in with the Genesis G90 it was in the middle of a clumsy refresh with the car’s exterior styling doing little to project its ambition of being a potent disruptor in the luxury flagship sedan segment. Genesis designers went back to the drawing board for 2023 and have unleashed the 2023 G90 which aims to add polish and substance to the G90 while also allowing owners to get closer to living out their ultimate Rolls Royce inspired luxury fantasies.
2023 G90 Styling Goes In More Bespoke Direction
The 2023 Genesis G90 has benefitted from an extensive overhaul that brought new exterior styling to the big four door. The front fascia still retains its distinctive shield shaped front grille but the headlights are brand new and fall in line with lighting designs that we have seen in other Genesis models. The lower front bumper gets a revamped air intake that flows from one end to the other. Meanwhile, the rear fascia gets unified taillights with two light bars on the upper and lower part of the trunk lid helping to bring both taillights together.
A set of 20-inch alloy wheels are standard equipment but models with the E-Supercharger like our tester get bigger 21-inch wheels that have an elaborate star like pattern to them. The shape of this iteration of G90 is perhaps the closest that the company has come to replicating the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and is a very handsome look especially when paired with certain colors. We highly recommend going for a darker color like black or blue.
G90 Interior Gets Inspiration From Rolls Royce
Slip inside the 2023 G90 and it’s here where the car’s attempts at matching Rolls Royce become the most readily apparent. While the British ultra-luxury brand still sets the benchmark when it comes to many aspects of luxury, the G90 actually manages to do a few things better than its far more expensive counterpart. A prominent example is the self opening and closing doors with the G90’s buttons for those functions being in locations that are easier to locate and use. That’s in stark contrast to models like the Rolls Royce Cullinan or even the Phantom that put the passenger controls for these doors in an awkward spot on the B-pillar that can be difficult to find before you commit to memory.
The G90 also comes with other luxury goodies including an on-board fragrance dispenser as well as an anti-microbial sanitation system that cleans and purifies the air inside the G90. Passenger room is generous both in the front and the rear with the latter featuring leather seats that can be reclined and even come with a powered foot rest. As a bonus they even deliver seat massage which proved to eb a favorite feature for Emily during her time in the G90’s rear seat when we were out on errands. The G90 has also benefitted from recent tech updates with the car now featuring two 12.3-inch screens that cover infotainment related functions as well as fully digital instrumentation. The infotainment system comes standard with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay but both require the use of a cord which is a rather odd omission in a vehicle that’s this luxurious.
A Bang & Olufsen premium stereo is standard on all models however, the E-supercharged gets a 23-speaker version that also comes with a sound mode that’s supposed to replicate a concert hall. Genesis has always said in the past that the interior often plays a key experience in the ownership experience of a Genesis model and when you add all of this luxury with other welcome updates like a wireless hone charging pad, the G90 morphs into a strong value in the luxury car segment.
V8 Gets Pitched, G90 Embraces All V6 Lineup
A major change for the 2023 model year is that the 5.0-liter V8 has been benched (we still miss it dearly). In its place is a all V6 lineup with base models getting a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 that makes 375-horsepower. Our tester takes this potent formula and adds a 48-volt hybrid system and an electrically operated supercharger that not only transforms the engine into a twin charged unit, but also increases horsepower to 409-horsepower. On the surface this seems like it would make a transformational difference in terms of driving dynamics, however in practice there’s not enough to make the E-Supercharged model really stand out from the base engine.
This engine allowed our tester to make the sprint to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds which is very impressive for a large four-door sedan. It lacks the snarl and the burble of the V8 but the amount of power that’s present through out the rev band is a sight to behold. An eight-speed automatic is mated to both engines and the optional air suspension helps the G90 provide pillow smooth ride quality. It also allows the G90 to have a new chauffeur mode that tailors the rearward portion of the car towards providing maximum amounts of comfort.
The G90’s handling demeanor itself will not set the world on fire but if your a buyer whose idea of driving fun is wafting down the freeway in your chauffer driven G90 listening to Sprach Zarathustra while the rest of the world is drowned out by the 23-speaker sound system and the relaxing massage in your rear seat then the G90 will definitely be your jam.
Value Quotient
Pricing for the 2023 Genesis G90 starts at $88,975 for the base model. Our E-Supercharged tester started at $99,275 with our lightly optioned model having a final price tag of just over $100,000. That’s still significantly cheaper than what you would see in a comparably equipped S-Class or BMW 7-Series but the days of G90s coming fully equipped for far under $100,000 are largely over.
The 2023 Genesis G90 is a car that helps bridge the gap for luxury buyers in some many ways. It brings plenty of luxury and standard equipment to buyers but does it in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the buyer either while having just enough understated style to blend into traffic when they don’t want to draw attention to themselves. This level of subtlety and cool is hard to match and we hope that the G90 will continue to embrace this characteristic while also adding improvements to address its few remaining quirks.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.